The Unforgivable Sin
There’s been a lot written about the unforgivable sin. An Internet search of the unforgivable sin will display 1,440,000 results in 0.61 seconds. Of course they don’t agree. People have their own ideas about the unforgivable sin and few have any Biblical proof to back up their concepts and idea. What does the Bible actually say about the unforgivable sin? Is the unforgivable sin one sin or an accumulation of sins?
A lot of people feel it’s their duty to narrow the unforgivable sin down to a single sin. Yes. You commit that one sin, you crossed the line and are lost forever with absolutely no chance of being forgiven. If you pay attention you’ll find out the people suggesting the idea a single sin is the unforgivable sin are the same people writing a million articles claiming there is a single anti-Christ, and a single world leader will take over in the last days. When we put all those stories together we can see how all those claims lack evidence. Those stories turn out to be nothing more than an attempt to make the authors look wiser than the rest of the human race. Those type of studies prove nothing else outside of human pride.
Today we are going to look at three major changes in world history. Actually a number of changes in world history because we need to be true to a Bible study by looking at the events that lead up to the greatest changes in world history. No one can argue the flood that destroyed the earth in Noah’s time was one of those events. The other is the fall of Jerusalem. For good reason Christians study those events knowing they have some kind of connection with the last days we are looking at in 2021. And if we want to study the unforgivable sin, we have to study what Jesus said about the unforgivable sin and the events that led up to that conversation.
The first event is of course the flood.
The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the LORD said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing–all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7 NLTse).
The question of course is, what led to God’s decision? We can of course look at the verses that let to this decision.
Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times. (Genesis 6:1-4 NLTse).
We see a lot written about the sons of God with daughters of the earth and giants having intercourse with women. The key word here is warriors. Those giants bred warriors, which leads us to the thought of war. Men are called warriors after fighting and winning battles. Which is where they gain their reputation as warriors. We should notice the first word in this chapter is, “then.” Which of course tells us, this chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. In short, the Bible tells us, the previous chapter will explain why the world needed warriors.
Genesis chapter 5 contains a written account of the descendants of Adam. There is only one verse in that chapter that actually leads us in the opposite direction.
Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. (Genesis 5:23-24 NLTse).
Whenever we back up in scripture, it reveals details normally overlooked. In this case, we instantly notice there was one man who didn’t have to live through the flood, the destruction of every living creature on the land. Of course God chose Noah and his family, but there was also Enoch and the lesson he teaches. Enoch was close to God. This closeness to God is what prompted God to take Enoch to Heaven, thus sparing Enoch the experience of seeing the earth destroyed in the flood. This is one lesson God wanted us to see.
As we search backwards to find what caused the destruction of the earth, we find a number of events that lead to God’s decision.
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift–the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. (Genesis 4:3-5 NLTse).
One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him. (Genesis 4:8 NLTse).
One day Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; listen to me, you wives of Lamech. I have killed a man who attacked me, a young man who wounded me. If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!” (Genesis 4:23-24 NLTse).
The first sin we see is Cain refusing to follow God’s orders. Cain decided to do things his own way. Which mirrors or builds upon Eve’s and Adam’s sin. Which was to disobey God. In the Bible, disobeying God quickly moved to murder, which is the highlight of Genesis chapter 4. Whenever God repeats something, He wants us to pay attention to that detail. Disobeying God quickly led to murder. We are given two physical examples of murder. We would have to dig much deeper to see the spiritual side. At this we need to stick to simple terms the Bible is telling us. Disobeying God, doing things your own way leads to murder. The destruction of life.
The seconds event is the fall of Jerusalem. When we look at the fall of Jerusalem, we see how it boiled down to a single event, a single command from God those in Jerusalem chose to accept then chose to ignore.
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves. He had ordered all the people to free their Hebrew slaves–both men and women. No one was to keep a fellow Judean in bondage. The officials and all the people had obeyed the king’s command, but later they changed their minds. They took back the men and women they had freed, forcing them to be slaves again. So the LORD gave them this message through Jeremiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors long ago when I rescued them from their slavery in Egypt. I told them that every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But your ancestors paid no attention to me. Recently you repented and did what was right, following my command. You freed your slaves and made a solemn covenant with me in the Temple that bears my name. But now you have shrugged off your oath and defiled my name by taking back the men and women you had freed, forcing them to be slaves once again. “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Since you have not obeyed me by setting your countrymen free, I will set you free to be destroyed by war, disease, and famine. You will be an object of horror to all the nations of the earth. Because you have broken the terms of our covenant, I will cut you apart just as you cut apart the calf when you walked between its halves to solemnize your vows. Yes, I will cut you apart, whether you are officials of Judah or Jerusalem, court officials, priests, or common people–for you have broken your oath. I will give you to your enemies, and they will kill you. Your bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals. “I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to the army of the king of Babylon. And although Babylon’s king has left Jerusalem for a while, I will call the Babylonian armies back again. They will fight against this city and will capture it and burn it down. I will see to it that all the towns of Judah are destroyed, with no one living there.” (Jeremiah 34:8-22 NLTse).
The agreement was rather simple. If Jerusalem released all the slaves, they were safe. They released the slaves, and God kept his part of the agreement by sending Babylon’s army away. As soon as things appeared to be going their way, the people in Jerusalem went back on their word and placed the people back into slavery. The single determining factor leading to the fall of Jerusalem was slavery.
The third story we need to look at is of course Jesus’ discussion on the unforgivable sin.
“I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.” (Luke 12:8-12 NLTse).
Looking at that small portion of Jesus’ discussion presents a number of questions to most people with an open mind. We can’t expect to take a small portion of any spiritual conversation and expect to understand what it means. First of all, we have to look at what led Jesus into that discussion.
Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees–their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear. “What is the price of five sparrows–two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Luke 12:1-7 NLTse).
Most Christians know the yeast of the Pharisees is their teachings. Their opinions on spiritual matters. How do Christians know this? Because Jesus clearly identified the symbol. Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:12 NLTse).
After looking at a symbol Jesus clearly identified, we learn a simple Bible Study rule. Symbols are more often than not defined within the story they are found in. In this case, Jesus gave the clear definition in a different story found in a different book. The fact of the matter is, in Matthew chapter 16 Jesus revealed the meaning of the symbol yeast in the story he told that day. Now we will look at how Jesus used a series of spiritual words to identify the spiritual meaning of yeast on Luke chapter 12.
“The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!”
What is covered up, in the dark, and in secret? Nothing fits this answer better than the truth. When the truth is defined as hidden, whatever has been shared and taught up to that point is nothing short of a lie. Which is the deceptive teaching Jesus clearly identified in Matthew chapter 16. The fact of the matter is, without the Holy Spirit guiding us through the scriptures, we cannot see the spiritual meaning unless it has been revealed in clear, simple terms. If the definition carries the slighted hint of a spiritual overtone, we will miss it. Unless we have the Spirit and we know how to slow down and examine the structure of the conversation, we will miss the spiritual meaning.
The good thing about the Bible is, people can be taught how to pray, slow down, work with the Spirit, and properly examine the text until the spiritual meaning is revealed. In this example found in Luke chapter 12, Jesus repeated terms to draw our attention to the spiritual meaning. A Bible Study rules tells us to look at key words. Key words are words that are the same, similar, or related. At times key words can be contrasts. When we look back at Jesus’ explanation of yeast, Jesus used similar and related words. Covered, secret, and dark are related within the context of the conversation. Whispered is also related within the context of the conversation. Jesus also used a contrast for each of those key words. Covered and revealed are contrasts. Secret and known are contrasts. Dark and light are contrasts, and whispered and shouted are contrasts. That leaves us with a list of 4 contrasts and a total of 8 key words all used to define the spiritual meaning of yeast. Jesus used all those key words to reveal the spiritual meaning of yeast. There is something hidden that will be revealed. Look at a loaf of bread. The yeast appears hidden by the crust. Slice into that bread. You still cannot see the actual yeast, but you clearly see evidence of yeast in the hundreds and thousands of air bubbles that cannot be hidden. Common sense tells people, yeast made those air bubbles. The Spirit shows us how to cut through the crust to get to the clear and evident message inside. Common sense tells us the yeast and hypocrisy of the Pharisees is what has been taught up to that point.
We are trying to define the unforgivable sin Jesus talked about in Luke chapter 12. Before Jesus talked about the unforgivable sin, like every great teacher, Jesus gave us the answer before we had the opportunity to ask the question. Not only did Jesus give us an example of an unforgivable sin, He also gave us an example of working with the Spirit to read and understand scripture. Then Jesus repeated another word, kill. That word point us back to our first example of sin past the point of being forgiven. The word kill links us back to what lead up to the flood.
Of course there is not one sin that leads to damnation and eternal death any more than there will be one world leader, or one deception the devil will use to trick the world. I have no idea why so many preachers teach along those lines. Which is exactly what Jesus warned about at the beginning of this lesson. All I know is, the doctrines of one sin, one world leader, and one deception is always followed by a plea for donations. Those teachers use 1-3 verses out of the Bible they claim to be proof texts. Proof of what? That form of study proves one thing. They are not working with the Spirit to read and understand scripture. They are not following the pattern of teaching Jesus followed and the Spirit reveals, and shouts out to those who are listening. The pattern of key words Jesus used is only one method used to understand scripture. When people are working with the Spirit, they can see those patterns and understand the spiritual message. If people choose to work on their own, they will miss every spiritual message in the Bible.
No one will argue the point, we need the Spirit to understand scripture. Almost all preachers pray before teaching from the Bible. Then disconnect the open line and go about business using their own wisdom. The point is, if we pray for guidance and receive it, we should always be able to explain exactly what the Spirit revealed, how, and why it was revealed. That is one area many teachers are lacking. We need the Spirit to study scripture and teach from the scriptures. The Spirit leads us into all knowledge. The Spirit also convicts us of our sins. The Spirit teaches us what is right and wrong. Without the Spirit, we are nothing but evil, just like the world was when it was destroyed by the flood. We don’t want to get to that point. But we are only responsible for our own decision to listen to the Spirit when studying the Bible, and listening to the convicting powers of the Spirit when we sin. That has always been a personal choice.
When we put these three events together we see a spiritual message we would most likely miss if we relied on our own common sense, knowledge, and skill. In the Bible, God’s decision to destroy this world in a flood was foreshadowed by stories about murder, killing people. Jerusalem’s fall centered on slavery. And Jesus’ lesson on the unforgivable sin centered on denying the Holy Spirit. Together these three points tell us a spiritual story. There is a physical death and a spiritual death. There is physical slavery and spiritual slavery. Both define a life without the Holy Spirit who saves us from a spiritual death and spiritual slavery.
The conscience is a difficult thing to explain, because everyone faces their conscience on their own level. We are all guilty of ignoring our conscience to one degree or another. Some are guilty of fighting against their conscience with every waking moment. There is not a single sin that anyone fights against. It is always a multitude of sins people struggle with. One sin leads to another, and another until we are buried in our sins. Christians who pray to be forgiven cannot imagine or teach about people who are at war with their conscience. You cannot teach about fighting against the Holy Spirit when you are working with the Spirit. But we can see the signs. Sure, science tries to define those battles, and at times claim they can cure the side effects of a guilty conscience. In reality, science is powerless when it comes to God’s convicting Spirit. They cannot wish the Spirit away, teach he Spirit away, nor can they prescribe drugs to counteract the Spirit. Christians who deal with God’s Spirit on a daily basis only know what it feels like to be forgiven and can only teach about that forgiveness to one degree or another. Which brings up another factor preachers love to teach about. That one way to be forgiven. The doctrine that teaches, all you need to do is pray to Jesus to be forgiven. Pray to Jesus and no matter what your sin is, no matter how many times you have sinned, you are forgiven. Some go as far as teaching, it only takes one prayer and you are forgiven for life. The once saved always saved doctrine. Although those doctrines consist of shreds of truth, like their studies reveal, they are not telling the full story. Like their studies show, their concepts are made up of a few select samples from scripture and a ton on human understanding. The Spirit is lacking from their studies, doctrines, and examples.
The convicting power of the Holy Spirit is personal, to be experienced on an individual basis. There is not a single person who can deal with the Spirit on a convicting level for you. Anyone who suggests they can deal with your sins on any level is a liar. They are trying to take the place of the Spirit. Exactly what Jesus warned about. Without the Spirit there is no true repentance. Everyone who read Jesus’ lesson on the unforgivable sin know that. Sure they will read explanation after explanation until they find one that seems to calm their conscience for a period of time. But that type of peace is temporary at best.
People have been trying for generations to calm their conscience. Cain tried it. Cain tried to side step what he did and get God to feel sorry for him. Imagine, trying to get God to feel sorry for the sinner and forget about the one who was harmed. God does not work that way. Adam tried to deal with his convictions by playing the blame game. First Adam blamed Eve. Then Adam tried blaming God. We can see that didn’t work. But the blame game has been alive and thriving all these years.
When we look at the fall of Jerusalem, we some a detail that brings us to the doors of 2021. The rich people in Jerusalem owned slaves. Why did God use that as the final, determining factor for the downfall of Jerusalem? On the physical side God taught a valuable lesson. The rich people freed the slaves like God told them. They agreed to free the slaves. If the rich people made an agreement with God, why did they break that agreement? After a few days it became more than evident, rich people in Jerusalem could not perform day to day activities to survive. Rich people couldn’t cook, clean, fetch water, wash their cloths, or do any of the other day to day activities the vast majority of people did with little thought. Rich people found it impossible to do what the vast majority of people did naturally. God showed us, rich people are the last people in the world we should choose as leaders.
Today in the so called, democratic societies we find all over the world, people choose leaders who are just like those rich people that caused the fall of Jerusalem. Common sense would tell us, that is the worst possible choice. God gave us a clear example showing how dangerous that choice is. But people all over the world throw common sense out the window by choosing rich people who are unable to survive on their own to rule over their nation. Look at a few examples we see today. Governments all over the world claim they can control the weather. They claim they can change the weather. They claim, without their leadership, the world will soon self destruct. There is no mention of God. As a matter of fact, a short review of world news will reveal a number of governments attempting to destroy God. China is one of those countries. China is famous for religious persecution. Communists are famous for religious persecution. Marxism knows it cannot exist along side religion. Marxist have plans to eliminate religion on a world wide basis. Many democracies throughout the world are now quick to join marxists teaching, including the elimination of religion.
Looking back on 2020, we see churches were first on the list to attack and close down when the media and political factions focused on the covid-19 crisis. Social media persecuted Christians long before the covid crisis. Christians have been censored by social media giants for years while at the same time establishing a new social media dedicated to witchcraft, demons, satanism, and sacrifices to demons. TikTok is a meeting place for satanists. Other social media such as Facebook and Twitter censor Christians on a daily basis while sponsoring the spread of satanic thoughts and teachings. Hatred, prejudice, discrimination, and favoritism are just a few of the practices they pull out of their playbook to alter views and eventually eliminate God. When was the last time you saw those social media networks discuss love, forgiveness, or justice? On the contrary, social media, news media, and political groups have been working over time to redefine love, forgiveness, and justice. Love is now centered on obscure sexual practices and the right to conduct those practices at any cost. Forgiveness has been replaced by shame. Justice has been replaced by their personal brand of equality. An equality they are of course exempt from practicing. Media networks are making billions of dollars and not one of them is willing to set an example of equality by sharing any of their funds. They are just like the rich who caused Jerusalem to fall. They are greedy and unable to survive without their slaves.
Slavery causing Jerusalem’s fall carries a number of lessons for today’s modern world. China relies on slave labor. China cannot survive without slave labor. North Korea’s rice crop failed in 2020. To survive, North Korea has been selling slaves to China for $700 a head. But slavery is only the tip of the iceberg. For the past four years radical factions in Europe have been protesting and rioting over what they refer to as sexual suppression. People demand sexual equality. What the hell is sexual equality? Sexual practices are supposed to be an intimate act between 2 people in private. Most prefer those acts to be between a man and a woman. But extremists in Europe want those practices out in the open and they demand everyone accept those practices. On one extreme, radicals demand the state pay for sex change operations. Far extremes involve bondage and other other sexual practices. Extremists complain they cannot reach their sexual potential by play acting master and slave. They claim they need the right to own real slaves to fulfill their fantasies. We all know, sacrifices and murder are next on their list. In short, the flood and fall of Jerusalem foretold the decrepit society we are experiencing today.
Killing and murder were rampant before the flood. Today the world has borrowed on old concepts to invent new methods of legalized murder. These new concepts borrow from concepts of human sacrifice. And of course appease the demons who introduced them. Abortion is one of the obvious links to human sacrifice. Most people know about the normal, everyday abortions performed hundreds of times a day. That has been extended to scientific research using parts of aborted babies to conduct experiments to develop cures and of course tests and research to develop drugs as well as military weapons. The abortion industry is also involved in organ harvesting and resale. A form of harvesting that can only be compared to ancient sacrificial rituals based on the fact, organ harvesting is performed on live babies outside the womb without the use on anesthesia. Science would like people to believe babies cannot feel pain. The media and many politicians support and defend that belief. How could they support such a thing? Because organ trafficking is a very profitable business and politicians are getting their piece of the pie.
Organ harvesting has been extended to adults in China. Justifying the sacrifice of one human life to save another based on the fact, China harvests organs from convicted criminals. Some of those so called criminals are guilty only of crimes China classifies has religious practices. At this point is is not known if China includes slaves purchased from North Korea and other nations in their organ harvesting industry. Many of the people linked to prostitution, sex trades, including minors, are also linked to slave trading, and organ trafficking. Just one example of how one sin leads to another, and another. In short, people involved in those trades have shut down their conscience, trading a conscience for profit.
The world is to a large degree led by people who mastered the art of dulling their conscience. World leaders began their political carriers giving into little temptations usually beginning with accepting bribes, which turned into misappropriation of tax dollars, to kick backs, to all out theft of tax dollars, and using inside information for investments. Each of those are highly illegal. Of course the Spirit is alive and well and is working over time to convict politicians and turn them away from the inevitable course the Spirit has seen thousands travel over the years. In an all out personal battle, politicians war against their conscience. At times feeling like they have it under control. The weapons they use include denial. They deny the existence of the Spirit and God. They convince themselves it is a myth used to control masses. They substitute science for God. When those don’t work they advance to phase two. They convince others to commit the same crime with the belief there is safety in numbers. From there they advance to the next weapon, convincing the general public they did nothing wrong. They believe if they can hide their crimes from the general public they can hide them from God. When that doesn’t work, they lead others to a life of sin. Not as sever as their own, but they believe there is safety from God in numbers. Then something happens. Their conscience leads them to greater sins promising higher profits, and with increased funds they seek the peace that has always eluded them. That is nothing short than a fall into the grave. Nothing they can do will give them the peace and satisfaction they desire. No amount of money can buy them one moment of peace. That is when they strike out at others. They strike out through fear. The fear of being discovered. The fear of facing their crimes. The fear of loosing their souls. There is nothing left than to create diversions to avert those fears. In short terms we refer to that stage as insanity. In the Bible that insanity is linked to demon possession. Christians may not be able to understand those deeper phases, but they can see the signs.
The devil is not that creative. It seems he ran out of new sins to commit. After all, God only needed 10 Commandments to cover all sin. The devil has been taking sins and mixing them together to create his own brand of new, deeper sins. Satan’s demons influence people with a lie. Then teach people how to make it appear that lie is the truth. Demons teach people to talk to others, convince them their lie is the truth. After that black art is perfected, it is time to move on to stealing. Demons teach people to justify stealing. Demons tell people, those people owe you. With politicians the excuse is wrapped around the false impression they are actually helping people, or defending the government they stand for. The thefts grow, branch out, pull people so deep, murder becomes the next step. Threats to cover up their theft. Demons constantly teach people how to create and use excuses. The blame game takes center stage in the life of lies, theft, and murderer. The battle within the conscience pushes out God by silencing the conscience until the demon’s victim is considered lost forever.
Hundreds of times a day young girls about 13 years old are kidnapped, bought, and sold. They are drugged, threatened, beaten, and forced into the sex trades. Men force those girls into the most heinous, degrading sex acts. Those girls live in a world of control, fear, and endless shame. Demons work with their owners to break down the will of those girls to dehumanize them. If the girl gets pregnant, the baby is sold on the black market. When the woman is no longer useful to their owner, they are sold to organ traffickers. Their hair, skin, blood, eyes, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and more is sold on the black market. If their organ traffickers have a shred of humanity, the women are killed or anesthetized before being dismantled. Science believes the best organs come from living victims and drugs can ruin the organs. When we consider science, we have to consider the source. Governments have been known for spending much more money on ending human life than on efforts to cure cancer and other diseases. By now we should know, we should fear the government who tells us to trust the science. We never know what they are involved in and where that will lead.
